. tonight on "world news," under attack. americans placed on alert at u.s. embass sis after that surprise assault on the u.s. consulate in libya. the ambassador and three other americans killed. who did it? is al queda striking again? unveiled. will the new iphone create american jobs? and what was the big idea inside the brand-new phone? and, fast cash -- think robin hood meets al capone. a bank robbery suspect in a high speed chase tosses money out of the window as stunned bypassers scramble in the path of police.

good evening. as we are coming on the air we are learning a lot more about that surprise assault on the u.s. consulate in libya. americans were under attack for five hours and today, four of them are dead, including the u.s. ambassador to libya, the dedicated chris stevens, and here at home flags flying half staff in their honor as tonight embassies around the world have been put on alert warned against demonstrations and violent attacks, particularly these seven on the map. seven u.s. embassies. u.s. marines rushed to libya. who did this and did al qaeda play a role? our team is out covering this story across the country and across the middle east tonight and abc's senior foreign affairs correspondent starts us off right now.

martha. >> diane we are getting more and more details by the hour. we know more than five hour, the ambassador went missing and his body would not be recovered for 12 hours. they came in darkness, 20 heavily armed attackers, swift, savage and deadly. the libyan security guards protecting the american consulate fired back but were quickly overwhelmed. there were no u.s. marines to help. the main building of the consulate was quickly set ablaze. inside, on a planned visit from tripoli, american ambassador, chris steven, along with several others trapped between the flames and funfire, separated by heavy dark smoke and struggling to breathe. four american was not make it,

at least two dying from smoke inhalation. including sean smith, father of two. >> this shocks people of all faith around the world. we condemn in strongest terms this senseless act of violence. >> reporter: a terror group affiliated with al qaeda claimed responsibility for the well-coordinated attack. u.s. officials still trying to determine whether was time for the anniversary of 9/11, intended to send a deadly message to america or whether linked to an anti-muslim movie that sparked protests in cairo, egypt hours before the attack. still there's questions over the security of consulate. on this anniversary of 9/11 the consulate was taken totally by surprise. they detected no specific threats. for more than five hours after the attack, the state department

could not confirm the ambassador's whereabouts. in the chaos he had been carried off by a group of libyans who delivered him to a local hospital. his body not recovered for 12 hours. >> there's no way to eliminate security risk. what you try to do is manage it and try to look at overall what are your objectives with the understanding these can be dangerous circumstances. >> all americans in benghazi have been evacuated to europe. also three americans wound, one of them seriously, diane. >> martha the president said today in his public statement, make no mistake we'll work with the libyan government to bring justice to the killers what is under way tonight? >> the u.s. is promising justice and right now trying to track down those killers. libyan government promised cooperation and the fbi is involved as well. >> okay, martha. thank you. i know you'll continue reporting the story. as you know, american officials

moving right now to protect the more than 9,000 men and women in the u.s. foreign service. so many of them braving dangers abroad. the names of their fallen comrades will be etched on a wall at the state department and today president obama paid his respets there and secretary clinton spoke with fierce passion about their service. tonight abc's jon karl h more about those who died. >> reporter: war was still raging when he first arrived in libya last year. ambassador chris stevens fully embraced one of the most dangerous diplomatic missions in the world. >> my name is chris stevens and i'm the new u.s. ambassador to libya. >> he risked his life to stop a tyrant and gave his life trying to help build a better libya. >> reporter: john mccain was with the ambassador when libya celebrated the first free

elections. >> chris stevens was one of the finest men i've known in my life. >> reporter: today on the streets of benghazi, the libyan people grieved for a friend. one sign saying, sorry people of america. >> it's especially tragic he skied in benghazi. it's a city he helped to save. >> reporter: three other americans died with the ambassador including sean smith in libya on a brief assignment. >> he was a father to two young children, samantha and nathan. they will grow up being proud of the service their father gave to our country. >> reporter: two others still unnamed americans died as well. diplomats who gave their lives representing the united states of america. >> all over the world, every day, america's diplomats and development experts risk their lives, because they believe that the united states must be a force for peace and progress in the world. >> joan than karl, abc news,

washington. now for the bigger picture we turn to christiane amanpour who reported from this region for year, one os p front loointds for years during the arab spring. what do you know about whether is al qaeda. >> clearly intelligence and security forces are looking into that. we don't know and i've been cautioned not to say it is al qaeda yet. they're still looking for exact wloi is responsible. >> and today we were struck by something secretary of state clinton said. i think a lot of americans have been saying the same thing. how could this happen? show posed this question if a country we helped liberate? what does this say now about americans in this region? >> i can imagine so many americans feel really desperate wondering precisely that question. the good new, diane, if there can be any in this, second clinton said this say small and savage group, they did not

represent the libyan people or government. polls bear that out. majority of libyans and government support the united states. libyan officials were very fast off the mark to contempt it, to call it criminal, cowardly to praise ambassador stevens and a prom, that they would work with the united states to track down, hunt down and bring these killers to justice. >> as martha reported libyans terrorized the ambassador. as we said other embassies are on alert tonight. while there's no evidence the strange report about an anti-islam film played a role, it did at the american embassy in cairo. that embassy swarmed by demonstrators who denounced the movie. what is the truth about it? abc has two reporters looking

into this. lamb lama hasan starts off off. >> reporter: uploaded to the internet it's two hours long. depicts the prophet muhammad as a womanizer and pedophile. today, protests at the u.s. embassies in -- and -- and here on the streets of cairo, anger. the crowd is getting bigger and voices getting louder. chanting anti-american sentiments. this man watched the movie and said his blood is boying. he blames america. muslims believe it's blasphemous to depict his image in any form. >> we love him. we believe he's the greatest person. >> reporter: tonight as the demonstrations continue for the second night it's their message

reverberating across the region. now we go to my colleague david wright in los angeles on who is behind this film. >> reporter: lama, a very long fuse appears to have ignited this controversy and it's not at all clear where it leads. today we started by looking for sam bacile claiming to be the writer, director of the video. he described himself as an israeli-american real estate developer. now hiding for the fear of his life. he's a deadend. apparently a fake name. >> my name is steve, s-t-e-v-e, last name klein. the only man that has come out is this man that claimed to consult on the movie. >> who is sam bacile? >> good question.

i don't know sam that well. >> reporter: another deadend. we're told there was a screening on sunset boulevard but no one came to the theater. again no records of that. one final mystery, it appears that someone, not clear who, translated the english language trailer in a dialect of the arabic spoken in egypt that's what the tv stations in cairo picked up. an example how in the internet age it's possible to start trouble half a world away and remain very much in the shadow, diane. >> so many question. thank you, david and lama. we turn to the note from the aftermath of the aftermath in libya. mitt romney under fire about comment es made about the upheefal as it was unfolding. 55 days to go before americans go to the poles. "your voice, your vote" jake tapper has the latest on what is unfolding.

jake. this morning, president obama took a direct political shot at mitt romney, suggesting he's not prepared to be commander in chief. as he condemned the attack, the president today promised justice would be brought. >> there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence, none. the world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts. >> reporter: and then he left to console shattered state department employees. last night when americans were still in harm's way and ambassador stevens was still missing, mitt romney went after the president. the object of his ire, this press release, condemning the attempt to hurt the feelings of muslims. romney said it's disgraceful that the first response was not to condemn the attacks but sympathize with those who waged

the attacks but the statement about the movie was made before the diplomatic posts were attacked. when asked about timing today, romney stood firm. of the embassy tweeted post attack that its original statement still applied the campaign said. as for u.s. personnel still having been in danger? >> it's never too early for the united states government to condemn attack on americans and to defend our values. the president responded in an interview with cbs and "60 minutes." >> governor romney has a ten dascy to shoot first and name later. as president you can't do that. beyond the tone and timing are larger questions about the president's foreign policy. >> american leadership is necessary to ensure the events don't spin out of control. >> reporter: the dprez not take question from reporters when he came to the rose garden but several are outstanding including questions about security at those diplomatic posts and more broadly what more blow back we can expect from the

arab spring. diane. >> jake tapper reporting in from the white house. still ahead here in other news tonight, the new iphone was unveiled. what's the secret and how is it a secret weapon for american jobs? hey kev, how about a bike ride? huh? you're not my dad ahhhhh!!! hey honey, back feels better, little dancing tonight, you and me? hey boy, you wanna go for a walk? dr. scholl's pro inserts with shock guard technology relieve different types of lower body pain by treating at the source so you're a whole new you. where is everybody? that's not your dad. go pro with dr. scholl's.

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the cops hot on their tail -- a chase topping 100 miles per hour. so far, so l.a. then this -- bundles of cash, thrown from the back seat as the car raced through, shall we say, people rushed into the street to scoop up the money. look at that again. they're throwing money out the window. what is this? robin hood? the crowds got thicker cheering the benevolent bandits. thfrnts this is evidence. >> this is the third high speed chase. monday a suspected drug dealer actually got away. a rare occurrence. last night a suspected murder cornered, opened up on the cops with an ak-47. >> he got a weapon in his hand. he's gone down. he's trying to return fire. >> reporter: back to this morning all those suspected bank rob eshs dish ud out is more of

their bootie. >> look at that. >> reporter: the chase lasted 1:20 minutes. deputy, guns drawn, suspects in cuffs, then the gig is up. and the crowd surged forward trying to grab cash left inside that car. the crowd looks like they're on the side of the bad guys. nick watt, abc news, los angeles. and we thank you for watching. we will, of course, have the very latest on the attack in libya on "nightline" coming up later. we're always here on abcnews.com. we'll see you back here again tomorrow night. good night.